Thursday, 27 March 2014

Dr. Anne-Marie Leander of the University of Lund gave the penultimate lecture in the seminar series Pompeii: The Present and
Future of Vesuvian Research at Leeds with a paper entitled 'Focus on innovation in the study of insula V.1, Pompeii.’ Director of the Swedish Pompeii Project, the lecture Dr. Leander gave included images of the stunning 3D digital visualisations of insula produced as part of their work. The video of the paper can be viewed here.

Thursday, 20 March 2014

The fourth installment of the research seminar series 'Pompeii: The
Present and Future of Vesuvian Research' held at the University of Leeds
was given Wednesday by Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (Cambridge) with a paper
entitled 'Herculaneum: Can we save the sites?' The lecture can be accessed here.

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

Check out this article, 'Pompéi chez les Poinssot', by our fellow-blogger Sandra Zanella on Pompeii-related materials in the Poinssot Archive, held at the Institut national d'histoire de l'art (INHA) in Paris. Poinsott is particularly well known for his work at Dougga in North Africa, but he and his family amassed an impressive library that covers many archaeological sites. It's great to find more information about it.

I received a copy of this last year from the Oxford Text Archive and cannot open the file format in any of the suggested ways (a web browser, text file, allowing my computer to search the for a programme online), but no joy. The OTA FAQs have been a little disappointing, so I thought I’d appeal here to see if anyone else might have made some headway.

Thursday, 6 March 2014

The third installment of the research seminar series 'Pompeii: The
Present and Future of Vesuvian Research' held at the University of Leeds
was given Wednesday by Dr. Richard Hobbs (British Museum) with a paper
entitled 'Coins and Mediterranean connections in early Pompeii.' The paper can be watched here.

A new section has just been created on the site where the interim reports of French archaeological activities in Italy, North Africa and Adriatic coast are collected. All reports about excavations / cleanings in Pompeii and Herculaneum are now gathered.
Two interim reports of last summer campaigns have been published about:

The house situated at South of the forum in Pompeii (Casa dei mosaici geometrici, VIII 2, 3-16), by S. Zanella.

The first interim report about the study of the Villa of Diomedes, by H. Dessales, J. Ponce, É. Letellier, F. Marchand- Beaulieu, F. Monier, A. Péron and Y. Ubelmann.

The second interim report about the excavation of a kiln in Via dei sepolcri (29), by L. Cavassa, B. Lemaire, G. Chapelin, A. Lacombe, J.-M. Piffeteau and G. Stelo.

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Further to the reports in the media over the past few days, concerning further collapses at Pompeii, the BBC has this morning reported funding developments through the EU for much-needed conservation work (you can read the original article here).

Damaged Pompeii to receive Italy rescue fund

Italy says it will
unblock 2m euros (£1.6m) in emergency funding to save the ancient city
of Pompeii, after flooding caused walls to collapse.

A number of structures, including the Temple of Venus and Roma, were damaged by heavy rainfall on Sunday and Monday.

The decay prompted calls for action from the European Union and the United Nations.

The site, where volcanic ash smothered a Roman city in AD79, has suffered slow degradation for many years.

It is one of the world's greatest archaeological treasures.

Every year, some 2.5m tourists visit Pompeii, which sits near the southern city of Naples.

Despite the money they generate, there have been allegations
that the city - designated a World Heritage site by the UN cultural
organisation Unesco - has been neglected and underfunded.

'Huge defeat'
The new plan was adopted at an emergency meeting on Tuesday.

Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said he was "unblocking many measures which will get the machine working".

He added the EU could be "sure that Italy is taking care of Pompeii, both in terms of emergency measures and in the long term".

The Italian government has been accused of mismanaging EU funds reserved for the site's restoration.

The money will be used for routine maintenance. In addition the
government will take steps to protect vulnerable areas of the landmark
site.

Pompeii's degradation has been a source of constant concern
and embarrassment for the Italian authorities, the BBC's Alan Johnston,
in Rome, reports.

The EU has made substantial funds available for the care and
restoration of the site, but the money does not appear to have been put
to use swiftly, our correspondent explains.

The EU's Regional Policy Commissioner, Johannes Hahn, said that "every collapse is a huge defeat".
"Pompeii is emblematic not only for Europe, but also for the world," he said.

The Italian media is blaming the government's slow action on mismanagement and bureaucratic delays.

Monday, 3 March 2014

Down Pompeii: emergency meeting called after collapses in ancient cityCollapse of tomb wall and supporting arch prompts Italy's culture minister to summon officials

Italy's culture minister demanded explanations on Sunday after more collapses this weekend in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii raised concerns about the state of one of the world's most treasured archaeological sites.

Pompeii, preserved under ash from a volcanic eruption in 79AD and rediscovered in the 18th century, has been hit by a series of collapses in recent months and years which have sparked international outcry over the neglect of the site.

Officials said the wall of a tomb about 1.7 metres high and 3.5 metres long collapsed in the necropolis of Porta Nocera in the early hours of Sunday.

That followed a smaller collapse on Saturday of part of an arch supporting the Temple of Venus.

Heavy rains were cited as the immediate cause.

The Temple of Venus is in an area of the site which was already closed to visitors, while access to the necropolis has been closed following the collapse of the wall.

Culture minister Dario Franceschini, appointed last month in the new government of Matteo Renzi, summoned officials responsible for the site to Rome for an "emergency meeting" on Tuesday.

Italian media have highlighted the contrast between the management of Pompeii and a successful exhibition about the ancient Roman city at the British Museum in London last year, which attracted record numbers of visitors.

Pompeii, a Unesco world heritage site, was home to about 13,000 people when it was buried under ash, pumice pebbles and dust as it endured the force of an eruption equivalent to 40 atomic bombs.

Two-thirds of the 66-hectare town has since been uncovered. The site attracts more than two million tourists each year, making it one of Italy's most popular attractions.